Absent
by xxlovely
Summary: "It's eleven a.m. and you haven't even bothered to call to see where I am, let alone issue an amber alert on my disappearance." Even the great Harvey Specter suffers from man flu. Donna/Harvey One shot.


It was the eighth time Mike had walked past the older man's office in the last hour and a half and yet the man of mystery had still failed to turn up. Not only that, so had Donna. He furrowed his eyebrows, scanning the hallway for any potential passersby as he slipped into her cubicle, quickly opening up Harvey's schedule trying to find any explanation as to why the troublesome twosome were currently AWOL.

"What the..." he muttered to himself as he checked and then double checked his schedule, making sure he was on the right date. Why was it empty? Mike knew for a _fact_ that Harvey never had an empty schedule, not to mention the fact that he had spent the whole night wired on cheap instant coffee because Harvey demanded the Luther Enterprise files had to be completed for the deposition today.

"Son of a bitch." he continued to mumble under his breath as he nosed through her desk draws, desperate for answers, without having to contact the man himself. God knows Mike was not in the mood to be verbally assaulted by Harvey Specter today, not on approximately 13 minutes sleep.

Looking around the hallway once more Mike shrugged, deciding to make the most of this unusual absence, embracing the peace and quiet. Slipping into Harvey's office he grabbed himself a bottle of chilled mineral water from Harvey's mini fridge, kicking his shoes off as he sat himself down behind Harvey's desk, pretending to be the man himself. Leaning back in his plush leather chair he spun around, staring out at the City skyline, as he grabbed the office phone off of the handset.

Coughing loudly, he adjusted the tone of his voice in the attempt to impersonate the distinct voice of Harvey Specter, already having way too much fun playing 'the man' "Hey Donna" he said smoothly, talking to the dialing code "It's Harvey Specter, your ridiculously good looking boss who is so obviously into you that we should just get married and make beautiful intimidating children...Yeah, that Harvey Specter. I was just calling to say that I think I should give Mike a raise. He is a better lawyer than me, with great hair."

Little did Mike know, Harvey's office was under constant surveillance, a move he made years prior when a client leaked some rather interesting information in a threatening conversation that he was confident that the lawyer couldn't prove. Ever since, Harvey would spend an evening once a week, skimming over the audio for anything he may have missed, or in this case, for any surprises that he could use as ammunition in the future.

Across town Harvey groaned, his whole body feeling as if it had been hit by a freight train as he blindly searched for his phone, knowing it was somewhere on his godforsaken sofa. "Yay" he barely whispered, void of any energy and emotion as he dialled '1' on his speed dial, cautiously and slowly raising the device to his ear, growing impatient with every ring.

"What?" the person on the other end of the phone replied, their voice hoarse, agitated and a little nasally

"It's eleven a.m. and you haven't even bothered to call to see where I am, let alone issue an amber alert on my disappearance." he tried to joke, but his usual smug tone failed to sound remotely egotistical. Damn, he thought, he really must be ill.

"I could say the same for you." she shot back, sniffling in the process.

"Wait" he said slowly, his eyebrows furrowing, as he tried to make sense of the situation, the pain radiating in his head making it seem like mission impossible "are you not at work?"

"No" she sneezed "are you not at work?"

Harvey rolled his eyes "clearly not, I'm sick."

She gasped, feigning shock as a pathetic excuse for a laugh passed her lips "The great Harvey Specter is sick? And is taking a sick day? Armageddon is upon us. I need to call my parents, I need to tell them goodbye."

"Donna" he groaned, his head rolling back, hitting the pillow "I need a nurse."

"Go hire some leggy blonde and get her to dress up Harvey, I'm not leaving my bed."

"But Donna, I'm sick" he whined, sounding like a child, but he didn't care, he didn't have the energy to care.

"So am I!" she exclaimed, reminding him that there are other people in the world besides Harvey Specter.

"Donna please" he tried again "I think I'm dying, I think I've got Ebola, I can see the light Donna, Dad is that you?"

He could practically hear her rolling her eyes at him as she let out a huff "And the award for the most dramatic performance from a man with a common cold goes to..."

"Donna" he cut her off whilst trying to reach for his glass of water, his muscles screaming in pain at the slightest movement. He let out a breath, giving up as he sunk back into the sofa "I'm sending Ray to go get me supplies. He'll be at yours in twenty minutes, if we're going to die, we might as well die together."

"Aww" she cooed "and who said romance is dead?" she questioned "Actually...what makes you think that the last face I potentially want to see is yours?"

"Because you're into me" he stated simply, his eyes gazing out at the view of Central Park from his window "and because Channing Tatum will never love you, and the restraining order still stands."

"Whatever" she muttered lowly, wanting to smirk, but not wanting to give the man the satisfaction, knowing that he would just know her reaction even though he couldn't see it. "I want a hot water bottle and a cup of peppermint tea waiting for me, or else." she threatened.

"Or else, what?" he challenged, his eyebrow raising in curiosity

"Or else I tell Mike where you are and tell him you need nursing back to health."

Harvey hung up, a small smirk playing on his lips as he threw the covers off of his body, dragging his heavy limbs across the living room towards the kitchen area as he searched for Donna's requests. "Well played Donna, well played."

Half an hour later Donna found herself gripping into the rail of the elevator tightly, her legs shaking under her weight as she made her way to Harvey's penthouse apartment, wondering why she hadn't just told him to do one, missing the comfort of her bed. Dragging her unstable body into his condo she couldn't help but let out a hybrid of a laugh and sneeze at the sight of him, sprawled face down on the carpeted rug, dressed in sweats and a large black robe, clutching onto a hand full of tissues.

"You're so dramatic" she rolled her eyes, setting the bags of supplies Ray had given her on the kitchen counter as she made her way over to the man, kicking off her pumps as she kicked him gently, making sure he was in fact still alive.

Harvey groaned into the carpet, making no immediate effort to move "Donna at my funeral I want an open casket, and can you wear that red dress that shows a lot of boob? I know I'll be dead, but I will appreciate the view, looking down from the pearly white gates"

She rolled her eyes, giving him an extra nudge making him roll onto his back. "someone really is a fan of the dramatics today."

He gave her a small lopsided smile as he looked up at her through squinted eyes. "This view would be so much better if you were wearing a skirt."

"Perv" she muttered with a smirk, grabbing his limp wrists dragging him to his feet. "Are you telling me that you don't like my current ensemble?" she did a twirl in front of him, showing off her fashion choice.

He let his eyes slowly appreciate all of her, silently taking in her appearance, loving what he saw. He had known Donna for years and years, and he could honestly count the number of times on one hand where he had seen her without a full face of make up and an expensive designer dress. He smiled, mentally taking note at how effortless she looked even when sick, dressed in black sweat pants and a plaid shirt, her hair thrown up in a messy bun, her face void of make up, her skin glowing.

Harvey would say glowing, Donna would just say covered in a layer of sweat.

Harvey thought she looked beautiful, but then again, he did just mistake his reflection for his brother Marcus... so apparently hallucinations and thoughts of delusion weren't out of the question.

"Harvey" she waved her hand in front of his face "Harvey? You're staring."

"Huh?" he asked, snapping out of his daze as she looked at him with an amused look on her face "Go make yourself comfortable, I'll go get us some soup"

Donna nodded as she threw herself down on Harvey's massive sofa, crawling under the thick covers, bringing them up to her chin as she snuggled into the cushions, feeling like she was laying on a cloud. She smiled as she found a piping hot hot water bottle beside her, wrapping her arms around faux fur covered item as she let the heat radiate through her body.

"Here" she dragged her eyes away from the TV screen as she looked up at Harvey, who handed her a steaming bowl of soup. She smiled in thanks as he sat beside her, making himself comfortable, before digging into the soup.

"Nothing wrong with your appetite I see?" she asked with a laugh, watching the man scoff down the bowl of chicken soup in record time "slow down soldier, you'll give yourself indigestion"

With a mouth full of soup Harvey shrugged, giving Donna a tight lipped smile, his nose and eyes red from a night of sneezing and coughing "I'm a growing lad" he stated proudly as he swallowed.

Donna scoffed, shaking her head with wide eyes "Uhuh Harvey. Growing horizontally at the rate you're going."

He dropped his spoon, the metal creating an unpleasant sound as it hit the bowl "Donna Paulsen" he said her name slowly and deliberately "are you calling me _fat?"_

She fluttered her eyelids, looking at her boss innocently as she shook her head "No, just a little chubby" she grinned, knowing that would rile him up even more. His mouth fell open, an unimpressed expression finding its way to his face as he repositioned himself on the sofa, trying to gain a better posture.

"I think your illness has affected your brain Donna, I'm nothing short of a God." She laughed as he flexed his arms, looking at her with expectant eyes.

"Is that supposed to make me swoon?" she furrowed her eyebrows, putting her bowl down on the floor beside her.

"It was supposed to make you jump my bones at the very least." he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm sick, not stupid Harvey" she wondered how long it would be before he made a suggestive comment "Besides, I've seen Mike's arms and they make yours look like two deflated balloons"

"Wow" Harvey muttered in disbelief, clutching his chest "Well what can I say to that?" he asked her, his other hand, grabbing the carton of ice cream beside him. "I guess I will have to drown my sorrows by eating this entire carton of Chunky Monkey" he shrugged, picking up a spoon, before returning his gaze to the TV screen.

Donna sneezed, her hands flying to cover her mouth as she grabbed her pocket bac out of the pocket of her sweat pants, wiping away the germs. "Hey!" she exclaimed, jealously bubbling in the pit of her stomach "gimme some!" she reached over trying to grab the carton as he lifted it above his head, and out of her reach. "Harvey!" she whined, her bottom lip sticking out in a pout.

"You called me chubby, chubby people eat ice cream."

"B-but sharing is caring?" she tried, practically drooling at the sight of her favorite ice cream.

"Nope."

"Harvey, my throat hurts so much, I need the ice cream. It's a medical emergency."

He rolled his eyes "You're not having any until you admit that I'm hot."

She placed the back of her hand against his forehead checking his temperature "You're right, you have a temperature."

"Donna! You know what I mean!"

_"_Do you really still need your ego feeding when you're sick?"

Harvey nodded, spoon hanging from his mouth "Yep. It's a medical emergency" he mocked, causing her to roll her eyes for the millionth time. "You know if you keep rolling your eyes, they'll get stuck like that.

"Better than having my head so far up my ass that I have a constant view of the void where my heart should be."

"Ouch Donna" he laughed, leaning back into the sofa "your words cut me like a knife. Why don't you cut yourself a nice slice of sass and feast on that."

"Harvey give me the goddamn ice cream!" she grabbed the carton, entering a game of 'tug-of-war' with the lawyer

"Say it and I'll let go!"

"No!"

"Say it!" he gave her a pointed looking, watching her crumble in front of him.

"No." she replied, her voice weaker

"Donna..."

"Fine" she huffed, loosening her grip as her shoulders slumped "Harvey, you are sexy."

He nodded, impressed, handing her the ice cream as her face lit up like a kid at Christmas. "I was only looking for the word hot, but It comes as no surprise to me that you think I'm sexy."

She didn't satisfy him with a reply as she shoveled the frozen goodness into her mouth, letting Harvey flick through the television channels in the hopes of finding something decent to watch.

"Oh can we watch the Kardashians?" Donna asked, mouth full as the channel landed on E!

"I'd rather watch my own murder on repeat... Oh this will do" he settled the remote down next to him as she gave him a dirty look.

"Storage wars?" she asked incredulously "really?"

"Yeah, sometimes they find cool stuff."

She shook her head "coming from the man who doesn't believe that second hand goods should exist."

Donna let Harvey watch his programme as she finished her intense relationship with a tub of Chunky Monkey, her stomach so full that the dull pain she had been experiencing earlier had intensified ten fold, but it was worth it. Discarding the cartoon, she rested her head on his shoulder, letting out a groan of discomfort.

"I don't feel good."

"Might have something to do with you consuming a family size carton of ice cream Donna."

"I object" she replied weakly, her eyes closing, letting his cologne fill her senses.

"On what grounds?" he laughed

"On the grounds of...shut up."

"You're ridiculous" he mused, letting his arm wrap around her shoulder.

"You smell good." she muttered, unaware that she had said her thoughts out loud.

He looked at with a smug smile "steady on Donna. First you say I'm sexy, now I smell good. Do I need to be worried that you're going to try to take advantage of me in my sleep?"

"I hate you."

"Uhuh." He flipped the channel, noticing one of her favorite films was just about to start. Harvey hated chick flicks, he thought they created unrealistic expectations of men, and that there usually wasn't enough high speed car chases for his liking, but he would make an exception on his one occasion, for Donna.

She shifted, snuggling closer to Harvey, desperate to find comfort as she laid her head on his lap, using the comforter covering him as a pillow. Harvey swallowed harshly, ignoring the uneasy flip on his stomach, passing it off as part of his sickness as his fingers absentmindedly found their way to her hair. They sat in silence (besides the odd sniffle and cough) as they watched the film, comfortable in one another's company as Harvey continued to play with her auburn tresses, untying them for a loose bun, letting it splay against the covers. Harvey smiled as the sound of soft snores filled his ears, looking down to see Donna fast asleep on his lap. Reaching over gently, he grabbed the remote from beside her, turning off the TV as he let one are settle loosely over her waist, almost protectively. He closed his eyes, letting out content sigh, as he silently prayed that the two of them would wake up tomorrow feeling just as lousy, wanting nothing more than to play rookie with her again tomorrow.

**Yeah so it's another one shot. Oops. I actually really enjoy writing one shots, no commitment, I can write whatever I want, it's great. So let me know what you thought about this one. You know what to do.**

**Take a read and leave me a word or two, anon or logged in, makes my day. Who knows... maybe even favourite it (daring, i know.)**

**Check out my other stories and one shots too.**


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